Price Elasticity Of Health Insurance

“When we debate health care policy, we seem to jump right to the issue of who should pay the bills, blowing past what should be the first question: Why exactly are the bills so high? (Sultz & Young 336)”. It’s no surprise for many Americas today to realize that the cost of healthcare and the cost of having insurance is on the rise. Many people wonder why something stressed as important for every individual to have access to, is so expensive and inaccessible for many. So, why is that something that should be accessible for anyone, is lacking this quality? Many people today lack health insurance coverage, because of the high cost for private insurance or because of the loss of employer-based health coverage. Many Americans during the last decade, especially during the years of economic recession and contraction no longer have access to job-based health care insurance coverage (Sultz & Young 290). As a reaction to the many uninsured individuals and to attempt to control short and long term costs, the government had implemented the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

Price elasticity of demand is a Theory of the relationship between a change in the quantity demanded of a

The cost of health insurance has changed drastically over the years as it has become more expensive. Depending on personal characteristic, the cost of health insurance may vary. For instance, as individuals grow older the more expensive it becomes. In this case, health insurance is more costly because “older individuals require more health care” therefore “the cost of providing health care is rising” (Madura &Atlantic, 2012). Not only does this affect the high cost of health insurance, but the number of individuals uninsured. As stated by Madura and Atlantic (2012), “about one in every five workers is uninsured” and has increased since then because health insurance has become unaffordable. As a result, individuals tend to seek health care elsewhere as they can no longer

Rising health insurance premiums have made healthcare unaffordable in the United States. Health insurance premiums in this country have undergone a steady rise over the past few years while incomes have remained the same. More than 50% of individuals with low incomes holding private insurance in the United States are unable to afford their healthcare costs (Collins, Gunja, Doty & Buetel, 2015). In addition, costs related to healthcare are equally unaffordable to 25% of working-age individuals who hold private health insurance policies (Collins et al., 2015). According to the Kaiser Family Foundation/Health Research and Educational Trust (Kaiser/HRET) survey on employer health benefits, employer-sponsored health insurance plans have also had moderate rises in premiums in 2013 for both individuals and family coverage (Claxton et al., 2013). While

One of the basic tools that economists use is elasticity and how the concept relates to health care funding. Generally elasticity can show the similarities and differences in a demand for a good or service. Elasticity provides a way to measure how sensitive supply and demand are the change in price. Economists can use this tool to predict what will happen to health care spending when prices shift.

Elasticity of demand is the relationship between the demands for a product with respect to its price. Generally, when the demand for a product is high, the price of the product decreases. When demand decreases, prices tend to climb. Products that exhibit the characteristics of elasticity of demand are usually cars, appliances and other luxury items. Items such as clothing, medicine and food are considered to be necessities. Essential items usually possess inelasticity of demand. When this occurs prices do not change significantly.

Supply and demand forms the most fundamental concept of economics. Whether you are a teacher, farmer, medical supply manufacturer, doctor or simply a consumer the fundamental foundation of supply and demand equilibrium is incorporated into the daily behaviors of our society. Consumers naturally look for the lowest price, while producer are influenced to expand outputs at greater cost. This is the same phenomenon in healthcare. With congress enacting the Affordable Care Act, many are seeking out the cheapest form of insurance, while at the same time wanting the greatest benefits.

Elastic demand or “elasticity means the extent to which the quantity demanded changes when there’s a change in the price of a good” (Thinkwell, 2013). A product is considered elastic when the change in price increases the percentage change in quantity demanded. When

Price elasticity that relates to demand is determined by many factors. Price elasticity is measured by the change in price and the response from consumer demand. The demand of a good or service will vary the price in the item. The most important factor to determine the price elasticity of demand is necessity. If a good is a necessity, the demand will seldom change and the price is able to be adjusted. The demand is the most important due to the freedom it provides for price adjustment and inventory control. With necessity comes an inelastic price. Other factors such as the

Price elasticity of demand refers to the difference in demand as related to price. According to Douglas (2012), “Price elasticity of demand is defined as the percentage change in quantity demanded divided by

Elasticity of demand is measured as the percentage change in quantity demand divided by the percentage change in price .

I agree that healthcare insurance is, in fact, an inelastic product. As you mentioned, people still choose not to be covered even though there is a cost of not having any insurance and it goes up each year and he or she is penalized. The theory you have for the different costs of over-the-counter medication is exactly how I see it. Medication costs different prices because of either the brand or mainly where it is sold. People seem to think if they buy the name brand that it is more effective than the generic and they are willing to pay the cost of it.

Elasticity is a measure of the responsiveness of demand to changes in the price of a good or service. In the case of Steam Scot, when the price rises from 4 to 5, demand falls from 60,000 to 40,000 units. The original equilibrium market price of 4 pounds resulted in demand of 60,000 units and this generated revenue of 240,000 pounds. When the prices increased to 5 pounds the resulting demand is 40,000 units, and this generates total revenue of 200,000 pounds. When market price changes from 4 pounds to 5 pounds 40,000 pounds of revenue are lost in this indicates an elastic price elasticity of demand.

he Availability of Substitutes element is the most vital factor when it comes to price elasticity of demand. The price elasticity of demand for insurance companies would most certainly be impacted by this factor. There are a choices when it comes to insurance companies. For example, one has Cigna and Humana and they are both great insurance companies but there are some differences. The one thing that makes them different is the price when it comes to the same coverage. I would consider Humana to be the substitute to Cigna. What one has to remember is the better the substitute the more elastic the demand is for that service (p. 212). With that being said, Cigna is much more elastic.

When the price of a good rises the quality demanded falls, if we think about how much does it falls. To figure out by how much it falls we must calculate the price elasticity of demand which is calculate by how responsive demand is to rise in price. Also, the price elasticity of supply measures the responsiveness of quantity supplied to a change in price.